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New to planted tanks help with set up

Karl Roberts

Seedling
Joined
22 May 2014
Messages
11
Hi
I've just brought a fluval Roma 90. Looking for some help and guidance for my set up.

It comes with an internal filter to which I'm going to use and the standard t8 light bulbs (for now)

I've already got my self a CO2 unit.

Also got some rock on order.

Also the cardboard in the tank is the layout that I want to achieve with the substrate which will be sloping to the corners

Looking to get some wood too.

Looking at getting substrate and was looking at getting for the substrate:

Base layer: tropical growth long term nutrition

Applied above: this: either one of these- tetra complete
Caribsea Eco-complete
Aqua gro nutrasoil brown.

I will also be putting sand in the tank but will not be planting in it.

Will be looking at getting a test kit which is Likely to be the API master kit.

Don't know if that's right to have the two layers or not? Also would you fill up then plant or plant then fill up?

Do I need to soak the bog wood or not.

As much advise will be needed.

Also how to I post a journal

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Reading through this forum,you will surely find that hobby grade test kits are waste of money.
 
You shouldn't really need 2 layers with the aqua soils like aquagro and the others as they have all the nutrients in them. You would only really need to use 2 layers if your top layer was something inert like sand and you wanted to grow plants in it. Then they could put their roots down into the nutritious layer underneath. If you want to do 2 layers (I don't know how cost effective it works out vs just using an extra tub of your top layer) then by all means, but you don't have to.

Regarding planting, it's easiest to plant most plants in just an inch or two of water. Having a little water in the tank wets the aqua soil and makes it kindof "sticky", making it easier to get the plants to stay in place. If you haven't already, order yourself a pair of decent planting tweezers/pincettes - they are between 20-40cm long (i.e. not your eyebrow tweezers!) and make the job of planting neatly so much easier. Also look at getting some aquarium scissors for later down the line - they are longer handled than normal scissors and so make it easier to trim your plants.

Definitely don't bother with a test kit. Test kits are not of much use in planted tanks for several reasons. One is that they are relatively inaccurate, another is that they can give false results of nitrites or nitrates from the fertilisers that we use. The other reason is that the plants eat ammonia in a high tech tank and so it is pretty much impossible to measure a tank cycle like you would in an unplanted tank to determine the filter maturity. Lots of plants from the beginning, along daily water changes in the first week, going to every other day second week, twice weekly 3rd and 4th weeks and then weekly afterwards is key. Introduce stocking slowly from about the 3rd-4th week. Don't rush adding livestock as without livestock you can really crank up your co2 and give your plants the best start possible. Once you add livestock you will need to turn down your co2 and this is where it gets tougher on the plants, so put it off for as long as you can bear!

Some wood floats and others will sink almost immediately. There is nothing worse than spending hours designing and planting a scape only to fill the tank and the wood to pull out of the substrate and uproot all your plants. The best thing to do is to test your wood in a bucket of water or in the bath and see if it floats. If it does, then leave to soak it until it sinks and then when you go to design the tank layout, use the wood straight out the tub so that it doesn't dry out and then it won't float when you fill up.

Another thing to consider is fertilisation. The substrate that you put in the tank will provide nutrition for the roots, but aquatic plants also feed heavily through their leaves, therefore you want to be putting some nutrition into the water for them. Most of the plant fertilisers that you can buy in the shops are really no good as they will normally not contain phosphorus or nitrogen - both of which are essential for plant growth (and they don't cause algae, contrary to popular belief!!). Therefore you should look at complete fertilisers like TNC complete (see here for the website) which contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, plus all the trace elements like iron, magnesium etc for good plant growth. This type of fertiliser is premixed and ready to use, just follow bottle instructions, so very easy.
Another method is called EI - estimative index. This uses chemical powders mixed up to make your own solution. The idea with EI is that you put in more than the plants need, and then remove any excess with a large (approx 50%) weekly water change. This means that there is always sufficient nutrients available to the plants. It is something that you could look at in the future, once you are comfortable with your co2 and normal fertiliser dosing. If interested, here is a recipe to make your own complete fertiliser from powders, and this is the website where you can buy the required powders. You also need a set of accurate jewellery scales to measure the small quantities.

Regarding a journal, simply go to the journals section of the forum and post a new thread as you did here. Have a look at some of the other threads to get an idea first of the sorts of things people put up if you like. :)

Hope that helps,
C
 
You shouldn't really need 2 layers with the aqua soils like aquagro and the others as they have all the nutrients in them. You would only really need to use 2 layers if your top layer was something inert like sand and you wanted to grow plants in it. Then they could put their roots down into the nutritious layer underneath. If you want to do 2 layers (I don't know how cost effective it works out vs just using an extra tub of your top layer) then by all means, but you don't have to.

Regarding planting, it's easiest to plant most plants in just an inch or two of water. Having a little water in the tank wets the aqua soil and makes it kindof "sticky", making it easier to get the plants to stay in place. If you haven't already, order yourself a pair of decent planting tweezers/pincettes - they are between 20-40cm long (i.e. not your eyebrow tweezers!) and make the job of planting neatly so much easier. Also look at getting some aquarium scissors for later down the line - they are longer handled than normal scissors and so make it easier to trim your plants.

Definitely don't bother with a test kit. Test kits are not of much use in planted tanks for several reasons. One is that they are relatively inaccurate, another is that they can give false results of nitrites or nitrates from the fertilisers that we use. The other reason is that the plants eat ammonia in a high tech tank and so it is pretty much impossible to measure a tank cycle like you would in an unplanted tank to determine the filter maturity. Lots of plants from the beginning, along daily water changes in the first week, going to every other day second week, twice weekly 3rd and 4th weeks and then weekly afterwards is key. Introduce stocking slowly from about the 3rd-4th week. Don't rush adding livestock as without livestock you can really crank up your co2 and give your plants the best start possible. Once you add livestock you will need to turn down your co2 and this is where it gets tougher on the plants, so put it off for as long as you can bear!

Some wood floats and others will sink almost immediately. There is nothing worse than spending hours designing and planting a scape only to fill the tank and the wood to pull out of the substrate and uproot all your plants. The best thing to do is to test your wood in a bucket of water or in the bath and see if it floats. If it does, then leave to soak it until it sinks and then when you go to design the tank layout, use the wood straight out the tub so that it doesn't dry out and then it won't float when you fill up.

Another thing to consider is fertilisation. The substrate that you put in the tank will provide nutrition for the roots, but aquatic plants also feed heavily through their leaves, therefore you want to be putting some nutrition into the water for them. Most of the plant fertilisers that you can buy in the shops are really no good as they will normally not contain phosphorus or nitrogen - both of which are essential for plant growth (and they don't cause algae, contrary to popular belief!!). Therefore you should look at complete fertilisers like TNC complete (see here for the website) which contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, plus all the trace elements like iron, magnesium etc for good plant growth. This type of fertiliser is premixed and ready to use, just follow bottle instructions, so very easy.
Another method is called EI - estimative index. This uses chemical powders mixed up to make your own solution. The idea with EI is that you put in more than the plants need, and then remove any excess with a large (approx 50%) weekly water change. This means that there is always sufficient nutrients available to the plants. It is something that you could look at in the future, once you are comfortable with your co2 and normal fertiliser dosing. If interested, here is a recipe to make your own complete fertiliser from powders, and this is the website where you can buy the required powders. You also need a set of accurate jewellery scales to measure the small quantities.

Regarding a journal, simply go to the journals section of the forum and post a new thread as you did here. Have a look at some of the other threads to get an idea first of the sorts of things people put up if you like. :)

Hope that helps,
C

This is really helpful thank you :) no where where I live stocks the tmc aqua gro so would the flourite be ok?


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Yeah, they are much of a muchness to be honest :)

Would I be able to start my set up my hard scape ie opening the bags and putting it in then leaving it a few days with out adding the water?


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Yeah definitely. This is actually a really good idea to set the hardscape and substrate and leave it for a few days before you start adding water and plants. This is because you are almost guaranteed to want to tweak the layout a bit in that time and it is so much easier to do that when everything is dry and there are no plants to worry about uprooting!
 
Guys, I am setting up a 60p. Are these products ok : Power Sand Special, Penac W, P, Tourmaline, Aquasoil powder and normal ?
 
You don't really need to spend money on those products, not that they don't work but they can be replaced cheaply for the same result. Simply soak things like cat litter with EI salts for a week or dose an aquarium as normal and bang you get a product that works just as well as any substrate you get on the market for a fraction of the price. This is due to cat litter having a high CEC which helps absorb nutrients for the plants to take up. This is really the same as commercial substrates. Things like the Penac W can be replace from just adding aquatic plants. The plant roots themselves are enough to help deal with anaerobic pockets in your aquarium without problems.
 
Good morning Fish People..... I am setting up a 60p, 17 gallons tank... I have a 5 pound tank with CO2 regulator with AQUATEK 3-in-1 Diffuser with Bubble Counter and Check Valve. How much oxygen do I need to diffuse in the tank ?
 
I'll be running a TMC Grobeam 1500 ultima but I don't know how much light I should set it out to be.[DOUBLEPOST=1406231887][/DOUBLEPOST]How much light and CO2 I should set it up for a 60p 17 gallon tank to begin with ?
 
I'll be running a TMC Grobeam 1500 ultima but I don't know how much light I should set it out to be.[DOUBLEPOST=1406231887][/DOUBLEPOST]How much light and CO2 I should set it up for a 60p 17 gallon tank to begin with ?

Hi Edgar

In your earlier posts when you asked about the tmc 1500 etc did you take a look at the stickies in each forum I mentioned, specific to lighting co2 flow etc as these all give you the info you need to start up and gradually work your way up.
As ed said there's no one answer. Each tank Is different and we don't know your scaping plans, plants, etc.
I remember mentioning to run your tile initially at 30 percent until your tank starts to take off at a lighting period of 5 hours with co2 coming on 2 hours before lights on and off 2 hours before lights out.
You'll need to play about with your injection rate but do it when you have time to spare to watch if you are injecting enough or too much (via a drop checker)
 
Guys, I have a question. To start off with my new aquarium this weekend can I just use Brighty-K ( Potassium) and 3 days later use the Green Brighty Step - 1. I placed the order with ADA backwards ... Thank you for your advise.
 
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